Monday, January 23, 2012

2011 Edgar Awards nominees

The Edgar Award nominees for 2011 have been announced. There are a number of categories each with five nominees. The winners will be announced in April. For now, to keep you busy until then, here is the shortlist for the Edgar Award - Best Novel.

"Returning home to Mississippi to attend his beloved uncle's funeral, army ranger Quinn Colson finds himself fighting a power broker and meth-cooking white supremacists. Friends, including a beautiful deputy sheriff, follow his lead in the escalating confrontations. Quinn does not hesitate to draw on his training and combat experience, which means violence is a big part of the story. An effective companion plot shows the man Quinn might have become if he hadn't left town. Atkins, the author of true-crime-based novels (White Shadow; Wicked City) and the Nick Travers series, launches a new crime series set in the Deep South. Give this one to Stephen Hunter fans who like fast-moving plots and decisive good guys facing down evil." Library Journal

"In the fifth riveting entry in the series featuring haunted homicide detective Jack Caffery, his latest case seems to be a routine carjacking. But as the investigation proceeds, it becomes clear that the Jacker was really after the 11-year-old girl in the backseat and, what's more, is taunting police with the threat that he will strike again. He is so far ahead of the unit at every step that the investigation is continually being stymied, and Jack suspects the Jacker is privy to inside information. As the Walking Man, a vagrant with whom Jack has a special connection, tells him, the kidnapper is cleverer than any of the others you've brought to me. Meanwhile, police diver Flea Marley is recklessly ignoring protocol in her search for the missing girl and finds herself trapped in an underwater cavern. Hayder keeps the tension high as she switches between the distraught parents and the stressed-out investigators. The meticulously crafted plot is heightened by Hayder's skillful evocation of mood as she summons the specter of a highly intelligent criminal who is taking great satisfaction from every parent's worst nightmare. A captivating thriller." Booklist

"Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who thought she had finally escaped her abusive ex-husband Togashi. When he shows up one day to extort money from her, threatening both her and her teenaged daughter Misato, the situation quickly escalates into violence and Togashi ends up dead on her apartment floor. Overhearing the commotion, Yasuko’s next door neighbor, middle-aged high school mathematics teacher Ishigami, offers his help, disposing not only of the body but plotting the cover-up step-by-step. When the body turns up and is identified, Detective Kusanagi draws the case and Yasuko comes under suspicion. Kusanagi is unable to find any obvious holes in Yasuko’s manufactured alibi and yet is still sure that there’s something wrong. Kusanagi brings in Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and college friend who frequently consults with the police. Yukawa, known to the police by the nickname Professor Galileo, went to college with Ishigami. After meeting up with him again, Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami had something to do with the murder. What ensues is a high level battle of wits, as Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko by outmaneuvering and out thinking Yukawa, who faces his most clever and determined opponent yet." publisher1222: a Hanne Wilhelmsen novel (M) by Anne Holt

"A train on its way to the northern reaches of Norway derails during a massive blizzard, 1,222 meters above sea level. The passengers abandon the train for a nearby hotel, centuries-old and practically empty, except for the staff. With plenty of food and shelter from the storm, the passengers think they are safe, until one of them is found dead the next morning. With no sign of rescue, and the storm continuing to rage, retired police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is asked to investigate. Paralysed by a bullet lodged in her spine, Hanne has no desire to get involved. But she is slowly coaxed back into her old habits as her curiosity and natural talent for observation force her to take an interest in the passengers and their secrets. When another body turns up, Hanne realizes that time is running out, and she must act fast before panic takes over. Complicating things is the presence of a mysterious guest, who had travelled in a private rail car at the end of the train and was evacuated first to the top floor of the hotel. No one knows who the guest is, or why armed guards are needed, but it is making everyone uneasy. Hanne has her suspicions, but she keeps them to herself.Trapped in her wheelchair, trapped by the storm, and now trapped with a killer, Hanne must fit the pieces of the puzzle together before the killer strikes again." publisher

"It's 1954 and Bernie finds himself flown back to Berlin to work for the French or hang for murder. Bernie's job is simple: to meet and greet POWs returning from Germany and snag one Edgard de Boudel, a French war criminal and member of the French SS. But Bernie's past as a German POW in Russia is about to catch up with him -- in a way he could never have foreseen." Discover catalogue

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